(Note: I just discovered that I can’t use color in my blog. Knowing this, I realize that my editing demonstration may not be as clear as it would have been had I been able to use RED to show my editorial notes. If you can, just imagine everything in parenthesis showing in red. If you would like to receive this sample in living color, let me know. Or if you would like to see a sample of my editing style with a paragraph or two of your project, send it along: PLFry620@yahoo.com)
Few of us have ever hired an editor before. We don’t know what exactly to expect or how to proceed. And then every editor works a little differently. Many of them use the traditional editing marks, for example, and this can be rather confusing for some.
I choose to work this way: When I come across (omit a) something that I want to change or that I (omit to) suggest should (omit it) be changed, it would look something like this. (omit Author’s) Authors (no apostrophe) can choose to make the corrections/changes, or choose to ignore them. It’s (omit there) their choice to choose what they want to do. (Suggestion: change 1 or 2 instances of “choose,” in these two sentences. It’ll make your writing more interesting.)
I always, every time recommend that the author turn his manuscript over to the editor for a final proofing in order to maintain its integrity and purification, especially if you did a lot of revising and rewriting. (This sentence is cumbersome. Please rewrite. Simplify. It appears that your message here is, “let your editor see your manuscript before it goes to print.” Say it so that someone from Mars will understand it.)
This is a small sample of the type of work I do as an editor and it demonstrates my teaching style of editing. The author can choose to make the changes/corrections he/she wishes to make. When they have finished going over the manuscript, they just omit my notes and turn the changes they wish to keep to black.
Now I’d better get back to my current editing project.
Thanks for tuning in. If you want more information on a particular topic related to writing/publishing/book promotion, simply look through the extensive archives. And let me know what you’d like to know more about. PLFry620@yahoo.com.